Conquistadors of the Useless

National Geographic Adventure's "100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time" "The finest mountaineering narrative ever written." -- David Roberts, author of Mountain of My Fear Conquistadors of the Useless captures the energy of an optimistic world that was shaking off the restraints of war and austerity in the mid-twentieth century. Lionel Terray, with his passion for climbing, epitomized much of that brave new world. Despite his father's bemusement at a son who needed to climb mountains, Terray pursued the beauty and purity of alpinism. His thirst for climbing led him from the European Alps to the highest summits in the world in the Himalayas and the Andes. He was part of the expedition that reached the summit of Annapurna for the first time--the first 8000-meter peak to be climbed. Partnering with the greatest alpinists of his time, including louis lachenal and Gaston Rébuffat, not to mention Maurice Herzog, Terray achieved some of the most impressive climbs of the century; he seemed at the center of every major new initiative of his era. But this book is not only about big climbing achievements and historic first ascents; it is above all a book about mountains and their secrets--and what a life devoted to mountaineering can mean to a dedicated climber. Writing in an honest, straightforward, and yet occasionally tongue-in-cheek manner, Terray shares his consuming passion for mountaineering. It is a story for those who love and know the mountains, and also for non-climbers. Indeed, Terray wrote it for them to explain why--why this need to always climb higher and farther, how there was purpose in doing something which could seem so useless.

‘I have given my whole life to the mountains. Born at the foot of the Alps, I have been a ski champion, a professional guide, an amateur of the greatest climbs in the Alps and a member of eight expeditions to the Andes and the Himalayas. If the word has any meaning at all, I am a mountaineer." So Terray begins Conquistadors of the Useless– not with arrogance, but with typical commitment. One of the most colourful characters of the mountaineering world, his writing is true to his uncompromising and jubilant love for the mountains. Terray was one of the greatest alpinists of his time, and his autobiography is one of the finest and most important mountaineering books ever written. Climbing with legends Gaston Rébuffat, Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, Terray made first ascents in the Alps, Alaska, the Andes, and the Himalaya. He was at the centre of global mountaineering at a time when Europe was emerging from the shadow of World War II, and he came out a hero. Conquistadors tells of his war-time escapades, of life as an Alpine mountain guide, and of his climbs – including the second ascent of the Eiger North Face and his involvement in the first ever ascent of an 8,000-metre peak, Annapurna. His tales capture the energy of French post-war optimism, a time when France needed to re-assert herself and when climbing triumphs were more valued than at any other time in history. Terray"s death, in the Vercors, robbed mountaineering of one of its most passionate and far-sighted figures. His energy, so obvious in Conquistadors of the Useless, will inspire for generations to come. A mountaineering classic.